Zarvan
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Su-30MKI and Su-35 fighter aircraft
China’s recent agreement with Russia to acquire 24 Sukhoi Su-35 aircraft is of interest to New Delhi as it would face off against India’s Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter in any contingency planning by the air forces of the two countries.
The Su-30 was a top-line fighter aircraft when it was procured by India and is beginning the season of upgrades soon, the brand new Su-35 may be a notch higher. Even though after their upgrade, the Su-30 would have the specs of the next version of the Su-35, possibly a Su-36, aviation experts believe.
The similarities between the present Su-30 MKI and the Su-35 are they carriy 12 hard-points, besides 8,000 kgs of external ordnance, pulling a maximum of 9G. They have the same air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons package; has thrust vectoring engines and can house external jammers of all varieties and all kinds of pods.
This is where the similarities end and the differences begin. The Su-35 carries maximum internal fuel capacity of 11,500 kgs, while the Su-30 MKI has 9,640 kgs. In terms of operating range, there is a difference of a mere 600 kms: Su-35 with 3,600 kms and Su-30 MKI with 3,000 kms. The max altitude they could climb is 17.3 kms (Su-30 MKI) and 18 kms (Su-35); and max speed (Su-30 MKI) – 1.9 Mach and Su-35 – 2.25 Mach (this is a crucial difference in case of a dog fight on after-burners).
The Su-30 MKIs canards are a necessity because of its heavy IRBIS radars (Phased Electronically Scanned Array Radar – PESA), while the Su-35 do not need canards as its radars are lightweight.
Indian Sukhoi Su-30MKI And Russian Su-35 nearly on par: Indian Aviation Expert